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Hubbard joins Aero-Astro Department

By David Orenstein

G. Scott Hubbard

Former NASA Ames Research Center Director G. Scott Hubbard has accepted a consulting professor appointment in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

"We are delighted to have internationally recognized space expert Scott Hubbard as a member of our department and look forward to engaging with him as both a mentor to students and as a research colleague," said department chair Professor Brian Cantwell.

At Stanford, Hubbard will focus on developing the space research capabilities of the department. That effort will include topics such as advanced technology development, future space mission concepts, education in program management and assessment of the national policy implications of both human and robotic space exploration. He will have an office in the Durand Building and work with graduate students.

"Since leaving Ames I have had the opportunity to work with Stanford faculty and students as a visiting scholar in the Electrical Engineering Department," Hubbard said. "My interactions with Stanford Engineering and the Graduate School of Business, together with the exciting potential for future Stanford collaborations, made becoming a member of the aero-astro faculty the next logical step in my career."

Hubbard's career with NASA spanned 20 years. From 2002 to 2006, he directed NASA Ames, a multidisciplinary laboratory with management responsibility for 3,000 employees and an annual operating budget of $700 million.

In 2003, Hubbard served as NASA's sole representative on the board investigating the Columbia disaster and directed testing and analysis that definitively showed the cause of the space shuttle's loss. As NASA's first Mars Program Director (for which he was dubbed by the media the "Mars Czar"), he restructured the Mars program in 2000 in the wake of the loss of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter. The restructuring effort led directly to the success of Mars Odyssey, the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, all of which are still exploring the planet.

David Orenstein is the communications and public relations manager at the Stanford School of Engineering.